Hong Kong Arts Center

Hong Kong Arts Centre has played a key role in local art development in the past 24 years，established in 1977, a time when Hong Kong was considered by many a "cultural desert", the Arts Centre has been dedicated to developing contemporary arts in Hong Kong and facilitating cultural exchanges with the Mainland and overseas countries. It has not only provided a platform for notable and established artists but also lent full support to young emerging talents.

The Arts Centre in 2004 featured numerous presentations in various art forms, including film and video arts programmes, visual arts programmes, and performing arts programme. The Arts Centre is also the executed organization of the 'Soul of the City' — International Symposium on Art and Public Space presented by the HAB and co-organized the Book Festival 2004.

The mission of the Hong Kong Arts Centre

The mission of the Hong Kong Arts Centre is to nurture creativity, arts and cultural engagement through its two-pronged approach in promoting contemporary performing arts, visual arts as well as film and video arts and in providing lifelong and life-wide arts education.

Shouson Theatre & McAulay Studio Theatre

While the Shouson Theatre was the place where popular theatre performances took root, the McAulay Studio Theatre has always been a cradle of experimental performing arts. For the past two decades, the Arts Centre has been supporting small- to medium-sized groups, injecting new vigor into the local performing arts scene.

A full-scale art film

A full-scale art film programme was launched in 1988 when our Recital Hall was converted as Hong Kong's first art cinema, which later nurtured different generations of film buffs and filmmakers. Up till now, our agnès b. cinema is still the most active art cinema in the territory, fostering public understanding and appreciation of world cinema as well as nurturing the youth in film and video production.

Visual arts

Visual arts exhibition has always been an important component in the Arts Center’s mission to promote contemporary arts. As a statutory body, the Arts Centre is the only major self-financing, non-profit making arts venue and organization in Hong Kong that has never received recurrent subsidy for its operating costs from public funds. Rather, we remain heavily reliant on income from rental, course fees, box office and venue hiring in addition to sponsorship and donations from the private sector. In the past five years, our annual turnover was about HKD60 million on average, of which government programme grants accounted for 8 per cent only.

Pao Galleries

Hong Kong Arts Center Pao Galleries (fourth and fifth floors) are wonderful showcases for contemporary art, with major international and local exhibitions of paintings, photography, crafts and design produced by local Hong Kong artists. The 2-floor Pao Galleries have featured numerous world-famous artists since its landmark inaugural exhibition in 1977. Around 1997, responding to the dawning of a new era when Hong Kong was to return to China, the Arts Centre organized several major exhibitions and arts festivals on local arts, culture and history. These pioneering efforts encouraged Hong Kong artists to explore their cultural heritage and identity, and raised wide discussion in society.